The ability to empathize with the struggle of others is a very important quality indeed. People who care only about themselves can never be actors. Well, not in any kind of sustainable way. To draw from only one well your entire life will leave you very thirsty. We must seek to connect and embrace those around us. Through this embrace you take on the ability to think and feel as others do. A very necessary skill.

Emotions are synonymous with and derive from our thoughts. Stanislavski said, "In every physical act there is a psychological element, and a physical one in every psychological act". Meaning that our thoughts lead us to actions. And if these actions are coming out of our investment of the given circumstances, they will lead to emotions. True-seeming emotions.

To understand the complicated thoughts and feelings of our character, we often times turn to examples of it in those we know. To truly see others, actors must possess another important quality...empathy.

Actors must be aware of their surroundings. We must take in through our senses the atmospheres that surround us. Through this awareness we can more deeply create through our imagination those worlds which we need to inhabit. The atmosphere of the Swiss Alps will be different from your bathroom. We must know the difference externally, so that we can allow it to affect us internally...